- Division of Marine Fisheries
Reallocation of quotas has been a major focus of discussion at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in recent years, and will continue to be so as allocation approaches based on historical landings data get revisited in response to changing species distribution and fisheries performance. These management bodies have selected three different mechanisms for updating the state-by-state commercial allocations for fluke, black sea bass, and bluefish, taking into consideration unique characteristic of each species and its fisheries. Each decision has attempted to balance many competing needs among the states. Making these decisions was difficult, especially after so many years of operating under the initial allocations. More frequent review of the allocations is anticipated for future years.
• Fluke: Implemented in 2021, the approach for fluke uses a trigger mechanism for reallocation that is meant to increase equity in the state allocations when the stock is in better condition. Previously, the state allocations were based on 1980–1989 landings, which for Massachusetts resulted in a 6.82% share. Under the new allocation scheme, the first 9.55 million pounds of the coastwide quota is allocated in this same manner, while any quota above this amount is allocated in equal shares of 12.375% to all states (except ME, NH, and DE which share 1% of the additional quota). The states’ percent shares are thus variable depending on the magnitude of the quota, but will always be an increase for MA unless the coastwide quota is 9.55 million pounds or less in which case our historical quota share applies.
• Black Sea Bass: The new approach for black sea bass that is being implemented in 2022 recognizes expansions and shifts in the species’ spatial distribution, making use of the regional nature of the stock assessment. Due to the expansion of sea bass into Long Island Sound, Connecticut’s initial allocation is increased from 1% to 3% and New York’s from 7% to 8%, by pulling a fraction of a percent from the remaining states (except Delaware, which has only a 5% allocation to begin with). Seventy-five percent of the coastwide quota is allocated based solely on these shares. The remaining 25% of the coastwide quota is first allocated regionally based on the most recent regional biomass (SSB) proportions from the stock assessment, and then distributed to the states within each region in proportion to their initial allocation (except that ME and NH each receive 1% of the northern region quota). Because New Jersey straddles the Hudson Canyon which roughly delineates the regions in the stock assessment, its allocation reflects the biomass proportion in both the northern and southern regions. Similar to fluke, the states’ shares are variable year to year, but in this case, based on the changing distribution of the resource as reflected in stock assessments.
• Bluefish: The approach to reallocation for bluefish recognizes changes in the state fisheries’ performance with their quota by shifting to more recent landings for the reference period. Rather than allocating quota based on 1981–1989 landings, the years of 2009–2018 will be used, with a 0.1% minimum allocation to all states. The new allocations are being phased in over seven years beginning in 2022 to ameliorate negative impacts of reallocation under the current low quotas. Massachusetts’ state share will transition from its original value of 6.72% in 2021 to its final value of 10.12% in 2028, in 0.49% increments per year.
